City’s fireworks almost didn’t happen — For all the complaints on social media about the July Fourth fireworks in Delray Beach, residents were lucky to have any pyrotechnics at all. The barge that was supposed to be used for the display got stuck in the Gulf of Mexico due to Tropical Storm Alberto and then Hurricane Beryl.

City officials briefly considered the Delray Beach Golf Club and Old School Square as alternative sites for a display before deciding that a truncated show could be launched from the beach, where the city’s celebration with live music and food trucks was already planned on State Road A1A and Atlantic Avenue.

Mayor Tom Carney said City Manager Terrence Moore told him at one point that the prospect of fireworks appeared bleak when word came to the city that the barge was not making the trip.

“Which I responded, ‘We have to have fireworks,’” Carney said at the July 9 commission meeting. “Ten minutes is better than no minutes.”

Parks Director Samuel Metott said fireworks launched from the shore rather than the ocean are more expensive and require additional safety measures. The Fire Rescue

Department spent the holiday watering down dunes, he said. The usual 20-minute show was cut in half and the city issued a release telling residents as much on June 28.

“We apologize to the public on our behalf that it wasn’t the show we wish it was. We look forward to another great show next year,” Metott said at the meeting.

Commissioner Rob Long said he had gotten an earful from upset residents — and mentioned the complaints leveled on Facebook pages dedicated to the city. “Cut us a little slack here. We still had an awesome event all day, right?” Long said. “A lot of cities don’t have anything like that.”

Commissioner Tom Markert said he didn’t mind the change of pace. “The shorter fireworks allowed me to spend more time with the food trucks,” he joked. 

‘Game of Thrones’ on DDA — It’s certainly an eye-for-an-eye when it comes to some recent appointments to the Downtown Development Authority — a volunteer board chosen by city commissioners. By a 3-2 vote on July 16, the commission refused to extend gallery owner Mavis Benson the appointment it had awarded her a month earlier, before problems with her application surfaced. 

Rick Burgess, whose vacancy Benson sought to fill, had been ousted by the commission after Benson filed a complaint last year with the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics, saying Burgess lied on his DDA application when he said his business was in the “tax-qualified” area of the DDA. The ethics commission found that was the case and city commissioners removed him from the DDA in April.

After the commission appointed Benson to the DDA in June, Burgess wrote to City Attorney Lynn Gelin that Benson’s Avalon Gallery on Atlantic Avenue was not registered with the state, leading Gelin to conclude Benson’s appointment was not valid.

Benson told commissioners at their July 16 meeting that she rectified the registration and submitted an updated lease agreement. But Commissioner Rob Long, who previously nominated Burgess, said Benson failed to resubmit an application for the DDA position as requested. Commissioner Angela Burns said she was conflicted, but “to be fair and consistent, we have to do the same that we do for everyone.”

Long and Burns were joined by Mayor Tom Carney in voting no. Commissioners Tom Markert and Juli Casale were in the minority.

Burgess had sued the city in May, seeking to have his removal overturned, but the case was dismissed by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Parnofiello on June 26.

Committee to consider how to spend city’s opioid settlement money — Delray Beach will form an advisory group to make recommendations on how to allocate the city’s share of opioid settlement money.

The committee is to consist of appointed professionals and community members, similar to numerous other advisory panels in the city, Assistant City Manager Jeff Oris told commissioners at their July 16 meeting. A formal policy is expected to come back to the commission for approval Aug. 19.

As of June, Delray Beach had netted $239,000 from the $50 billion settlement between the states and opioid manufacturers and pharmacies. The settlement — and future payments — could be affected by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Purdue Pharma, which invented the highly addictive OxyContin.

Of the 7,769 overdose deaths in Florida in 2022, 6,157 were attributed to opioids, according to the state Health Department’s latest report.

Maureen Kielian, the chair of a county advisory committee on the issue, has said cities should consider giving their portion of the opioid settlement money back to the county so that there would be a bigger pool to provide more substantial services. 

— John Pacenti

By Steve Plunkett

Work on the Core district’s road and drainage project was at a near-standstill in July as Gulf Stream’s contractor and consulting engineer waited to receive a “dewatering permit.”

“The contractor is in the process of obtaining a dewatering permit. Schedule for next week is TBD,” www.corearearoadwork.com, the site created to inform residents weekly, reported on July 10.

The South Florida Water Management District issues dewatering permits to make sure, among other things, that water from construction sites does not muck up lakes or the Intracoastal Waterway. Roadway Construction LLC, Gulf Stream’s contractor, has finished some work by pumping extra water into a pond at The Little Club under a different dewatering permit.

But, Town Manager Greg Dunham told town commissioners on July 12, “The Little Club golf course said that they would not like for them to do that anymore.”
Mayor Scott Morgan was outraged.

“We knew there was going to be water. You found it on Day One — Day One you found the water,” Morgan said. “To rely on a country club to dump all this water seems, I’m not going to use the word ‘negligent’ but certainly ill-advised. But we’re in a situation now where you just stopped work, right? I mean, there’s nothing you can do. Is that what you’re telling us?”

Thomas Weeks Jr., Roadway’s senior project manager, said the company had dug test holes on Bermuda Lane, comparatively higher ground, but ran into water too close to the limit. The new piping requires a dry trench at least 4 feet deep.

Other options suggested by commissioners, such as pumping water into a tanker truck and driving it somewhere else, would still need a dewatering permit, Weeks said.

Phase 1 of the project, on and west of Polo Drive, started in late April and was supposed to be completed by mid-February 2025. Phase 2 east of Polo would then begin and end the following December.

But three months into the 20-month schedule, the update website said only 3% of the work was done. Weeks said he expected the water management district to issue the permit in three or four weeks. Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers told commissioners in May a new permit was needed.

Before work began, the schedule was changed to start construction in the north end of the Core district, along Wright Way and Old School Road, instead of on Golfview Drive in the south. The north end is the lowest part of Gulf Stream and more susceptible to the rainy season and king tide flooding.

The website skipped a July 17 update then said July 25: “The contractor is working on drainage installations on Wright Way and Old School Road. Schedule for next week is TBD.”

By Steve Plunkett

For the third year in a row, Gulf Stream will likely levy the same property tax rate: $3.67 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Also, like last year, resurfacing roads and improving drainage in the Core district consumes the bulk of the town’s proposed FY 2025 budget. Town Manager Greg Dunham set aside $10 million in the general fund and $2 million in the water fund for the capital improvement project.

And he anticipates borrowing perhaps $7 million this fall to keep the town’s unrestricted reserves above $4 million as construction continues and as the town prepares to switch its water provider from Delray Beach to Boynton Beach.

Otherwise, the budget he and Mark Bymaster, his chief finance officer, presented July 12 to town commissioners was fairly ho-hum.

“This is very much like the seven previous budgets that I’ve presented to the town,” Dunham said. “I will say this from the outset, this is really a normal Gulf Stream budget.”

Included are $132,500 to buy two police cruisers and $40,000 to repair the sea wall at the town’s bird sanctuary south of the Hidden Harbour neighborhood.

After surveying other towns, Dunham is recommending a 4% cost-of-living adjustment to town workers’ paychecks. He said he prefers giving COLA raises over handing out merit raises, which typically require an end-of-year evaluation.

“This is a small town, 20 employees,” he said. “I do an assessment of everybody on every day of the week.”

Town commissioners tentatively approved the $3.67 per $1,000 rate, which will bring in roughly $400,000 more in tax revenue than the $6.1 million that Gulf Stream collected the previous year. The owner of a house with a $1 million taxable value would pay $3,672 in town property taxes in addition to county, school and other levies.

Commissioners can lower that rate but not raise it at public hearings they scheduled for 5:01 p.m. on Sept. 13, after their regular monthly meeting, and on Sept. 24. But to do so, they said, would require dipping into reserves.

“I like running the surplus up,” Commissioner Michael Greene said.

By Brian Biggane

In a significant turn of events, South Palm Beach Town Attorney Ben Saver said at the regular Town Council meeting on July 9 that he was “cautiously optimistic” that negotiations with CPZ Architects of Fort Lauderdale would soon result in a design contract for the long-delayed Town Hall project. And he was right.

During a special meeting on July 30, the council voted unanimously to sign off on the contract.

Joe Barry, vice president of CPZ, told the council service would be divided into phases, the first being programming and site analysis. Other phases include schematic design, design development, construction documents and specifications, construction bidding and construction administration.

“We’ll move you forward at your pace,” Barry said. And his firm will have regular meetings with individual council members for their input.

Public input will also be sought, possibly through charettes.

“This is just a boilerplate, stuff just to get us going,” Vice Mayor Monte Berendes said of the contract. “All ideas are good ideas right now.”

Saver, who spent four months in fruitless negotiations with Moonlight Architecture of Cincinnati before the council approved a move to CPZ in June, said he and Town Manager

Jamie Titcomb had a “very productive” phone conversation with two top CPZ officials, including Barry, on July 1.

Saver said CPZ was asked to submit its fee schedule for the project, which he said he received the morning of July 9, hours before the monthly council meeting. His plan was to review it, incorporate it into a standard contract and send it back to be signed.

The council plans to start soliciting construction bids at its Aug. 13 meeting.

But the news wasn’t all good. When CPZ submitted its first designs for the project as part of its presentation last February, it based its drawings on a 10,000-square-foot building that would house council chambers, a coffee shop, administrative offices and a community center — costing about $400 per square foot.

Saver said CPZ, due to its cost increases, now estimates the project will cost $550 per square foot. With a $4 million total budget, Saver said the adjusted square footage would now be in the range of 7,000 to 7,500 square feet, or a building that would be up to 30% smaller than earlier proposed.

Council members said it was too early to get caught up in specifics.

“I think 7,500 is more than doable,” Berendes said, adding that the current Town Hall is just under 7,000 square feet.

“It’s premature to know what the cost is going to be,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said. “I just want to make sure we’re still using SIPs,” or structural insulated panels. Barry, at the July 30 meeting, assured her SIPs would be used.

Council member Elva Culbertson had been reluctant to give up on Moonlight as she considered its expertise in SIPs to be superior to that of CPZ. Moonlight deals almost exclusively in SIPs while CPZ stated it had only a SIP manufacturer on its team.

Toward that end, the council still hopes to have Eric Schuermann, a SIPs expert based in Fort Lauderdale, brought in as its owner’s rep.

Fischer said she was also not happy with the initial design for the building CPZ offered in its February proposal.

“It’s kind of a Key West style, which to me that doesn’t flow with the town,” she said.

Berendes dismissed that, insisting it was “just an idea.”

Culbertson said her bigger concern was that, just as the cost of materials and workers has risen during the delays of the past several months, so will other costs associated with the project.

“We need to figure out all the expenses sooner rather than later,” she said. “For example, is it going to cost money to house the people who are going to be working here? That’s not five dollars. All of it costs money, and that’s not in the budget.”

Titcomb said it will be important going forward for the council to study the plans of how the architects allocate space, and Berendes agreed.

“We have to sit down with them and see things like, how big an office does Jamie need? How big is the restaurant? Maybe it’s 8,000, maybe 6,000. I would like it to be smaller, so we can afford it.

“We’ve done well financially. We’re in a good place right now.”

Mary Thurwachter contributed to this story.

New generator will take time — After months of discussion, the Town Council authorized Town Attorney Ben Saver to draw up a request for a competitive bidding process on a new backup generator for the town’s lift station. Saver said that based on preliminary figures, the cost will be approximately $125,000 and that his research indicated it will be another 12 to 18 months after a new generator is ordered that it will be up and running due to a shortage on the market.

PBSO gets new contract — The town agreed to a new one-year contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office with a 2% increase in compensation over the old contract.

Mayor Bonnie Fischer called the ongoing agreement with PBSO one of the best decisions the council has made in recent years.

Council hopes to cut tax rate — The council adopted a maximum preliminary tax rate of $3.40 for every $1,000 of assessed value — the same rate as the current year — in hopes that it can be brought down to $3 per $1,000 of taxable value when the council sets a final rate in September. “It’s a good year to give the residents a break,” Vice Mayor Monte Berendes said, though Fischer cautioned that projects such as the Town Hall may make that difficult.

Town manager evaluation coming — The council agreed to work up an evaluation regarding Town Manager Jamie Titcomb for action at its August meeting. Council member Elva Culbertson distributed a more thorough evaluation than has been used in the past; the council agreed to decide on what form it will use at a future meeting.

— Brian Biggane

By John Pacenti

Manalapan is pressing pause for now on cutting back the 24/7 hours of guards at the entrance of Point Manalapan, Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer said.

“There’s no formal decision. We got a lot of feedback from residents. They didn’t want to decrease the hours of the guards at the gatehouse,” Marmer said. “We budgeted for the full amount for the year. It seems that’s the way it is going to go.”

The town has allocated $270,000, an increase of about 2%, in the current proposed budget to man the guard gate. Police Chief Carmen Mattox has said the guard house serves as a crime deterrent.

At a July 23 meeting, Commissioner David Knobel suggested making the guards more visible in the guardhouse for even more of a deterrent effect.

In setting the proposed budget, Marmer said commissioners used the same tax rate on residents as last year, $3 per $1,000 of taxable value. Residents will still pay more because property values have gone up — but not as much as in other municipalities in South Florida.

Unlike many municipalities that saw property values go up 10% or more, Manalapan saw increases of about 5.3%, excluding new construction, Marmer said.

A homesteaded parcel worth $2 million — with its tax value capped under state law — would pay an increase of $180 in Manalapan taxes. A similarly valued commercial, rental or second home that matched the town’s 5.3% value increase would see an increase of $318.

At least two barge-loads of sand are being deposited every day to create the two new islands in a restoration project called Bonefish Cove. The red buoys and yellow silt curtains help to contain the sand and sediment until the islands are complete and ringed with limestone boulders. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

BELOW RIGHT: La Renaissance, shown in the 1960s Photo provided

By Mary Thurwachter

Residents of north Hypoluxo Island and South Palm Beach, who for decades have been navigating through La Renaissance channel for deep- water access to the Intracoastal Waterway, weren’t alone in being blind-sided this year by news of the construction of Bonefish Cove in the middle of the channel.

Also in the dark was Gail Martucci Klewicki, who lives on the south side of Hypoluxo Island. She and her sister Judi Martucci Hildebrandt own the submerged land in the central Lake Worth Lagoon beneath what has become known as La Renaissance channel. The land has been in the family since the mid-1960s.

Klewicki first learned about the lagoon project as she read the April edition of The Coastal Star, where a story told of the island residents’ battle to retain use of the channel, which — if plans had gone as designed — would have been buried under the middle of three Bonefish Cove islands. Boaters would have had to travel farther north to gain deep-water access through an unmarked, narrow and potentially dangerous passageway.

Bonefish Cove is a partnership between Palm Beach County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed to create valuable habitat for flora and fauna that had otherwise been lost or degraded because of past dredge and fill activities, stormwater discharges and shoreline hardening.

In February, residents on the northeast end of Hypoluxo Island received flyers in the mail about the project a few weeks before construction was scheduled to start.

Klewicki didn’t get one of the flyers. But when her community newspaper arrived, her eyes were drawn to the story — especially as she saw the words “La Renaissance channel.”

She hadn’t heard of that before, but she was very familiar with La Renaissance condo at 3230 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach.

Gail Klewicki and her sister own submerged land in the Intracoastal west of La Renaissance).

“Our father, Frank Martucci, and grandfather Carmine Martucci built La Renaissance in the mid-1960s,” she said. “They were true pioneers in the early development of condominiums in Palm Beach along the Atlantic Ocean.

“These adjacent parcels were planned for townhouses in the Intracoastal with a guaranteed path to the beach,” she said.

At one time, consideration was given to using some of that submerged land across A1A in the Intracoastal for building a condo resort extending over the water much like what is now called the Palm Beach Resort, parallel to the Lake Worth Bridge.

“We actually owned a time share there (Palm Beach Resort) that we just used in trade and travel,” Klewicki said, “but someone bought it about two years ago.”

She says the town of Palm Beach would still allow for docks to be built and she has the required survey.

Both her father and grandfather owned units in La Renaissance facing the Intracoastal, although they have since been sold. But Klewicki, who was renovating her grandfather’s unit decades ago, recalls routinely seeing boats cruising north up the Intracoastal and making a turn west of La Renaissance. She realized a channel was there.

“Turned out it’s got a name — La Renaissance,” she said. “It’s not on charts, but it has a name.”

Caught off-guard
Klewicki said she was “surprised” not to have been kept in the loop by the county, the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers because they had been in touch years before when efforts were made to allow docks in the Intracoastal Waterway across the street from La Renaissance.

While the boatyard never came to fruition, the plan did get approval from the town of Palm Beach. And throughout discussions on the matter, she was cc’d by officials from the county, water district and the Army Corps.

Had she been aware of the Hypoluxo Island boaters’ dilemma earlier, she said she could have offered another solution.

“I could have just sold the parcel to the boaters and they would own it and never have to worry again,” Klewicki said. She had read how Hypoluxo Island boaters were getting ready to hire an attorney to fight the loss of the channel and said she would have likely been able to sell the submerged land for less than the cost of a high-priced litigator.

“Of course, now there seems to be resolution, but that could have been the easy answer,” she said. The resolution involved eliminating the middle island and making the north and south islands of Bonefish Cove larger.

Klewicki and her husband, Raymond, have lived on Hypoluxo Island for 26 years. Until he died recently, her father, Frank Martucci, lived a few doors away from them.

Carmine Martucci, her grandfather, was 104 when he died in 2007.

The father/son team opened the luxurious seven-story La Renaissance in 1968.

Bonefish Cove update
Mayra Ashton, the county’s point person on the Bonefish Cove restoration project, said Palm Beach County continues to collaborate with the Army Corps on a design modification that leaves the traditional navigational route to the Intracoastal Waterway unaffected.

“Once a drawing of the new configuration is finalized by the Corps we will share it,” said Ashton, senior environmental analyst with Environmental Resources Management. “We’ve also maintained open dialogue with the municipalities and residents to keep them updated with status and information as it has become available.

“Sand to build the intertidal mangrove islands and oyster reefs will be transported from Peanut Island’s dredge material management areas and barged to the Bonefish Cove restoration project location south of the Lake Worth Avenue bridge,” Ashton said. “Once the intertidal islands are created, they will be stabilized with limestone rock breakwaters.”

She said yellow turbidity curtains (silt barriers) are in place around the northern portion of the active work area “to contain and minimize any turbidity plume resulting from placement of the sand within the turbidity curtains.”

Boaters aren’t likely to have problems crossing the channel during construction, but it’s possible.

“While permanent impacts to the locally preferred navigational route are expected to be eliminated with ongoing efforts to modify the project, short-term disruption due to staging of equipment is always a possibility as the project is constructed,” Ashton said.

The project is managed by Army Corps, so the construction schedule and work areas are not designated or approved by the county.

“Boaters should take extra precautions since it is an active construction site with construction activities planned both to the north and to the south of the local preferred route,” Ashton said. “To further prioritize safety, USACOE has committed to appropriate signage as needed in any areas temporarily requiring avoidance during construction. The current work area is well to the north of the route Hypoluxo Island boaters use.”

The first barge-load of sand was delivered to the project July 8.

Work hours will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, as approved by the town of Palm Beach. Construction of each island will take several months, with the contractor scheduled to complete construction of all the islands and oyster reefs and planting mangroves by summer 2025.

“When completed the islands and oyster reefs will provide critical habitat for threatened shorebirds and protected native mangroves, while below water sea grass and oysters will colonize, improving water quality,” Ashton said.

Steve Bernstein of Boca Raton and his daughter, Abby Bernstein Henderson, have teamed up to co-chair the 2025 Rock ‘n’ Roll Classic Party to benefit HomeSafe, which helps neglected children. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Steve Bernstein was well on his way to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the cell-tower industry more than 20 years ago when he came across HomeSafe, a nonprofit geared toward helping at-risk children.

“I always wanted to give back,” said Bernstein, 63, “and children’s charities are important to me because I really believe that how we raise children factors into society and what they become as adults.

“I did some research and found there are a lot of neglected children just in Palm Beach County as well as everywhere else. So, as I met the management team at HomeSafe I got inspired to help out.”

One aspect of HomeSafe that hit home with this coastal Boca Raton resident was that each child, who typically shared a room with another child at that time, was given a footlocker with permission to decorate it however he or she wanted.

“Everything they owned was in that footlocker. And it just broke my heart. So from that point I got involved, and I brought my daughter, Abby, into the loop because it was important for her to see and give back.”

Abby has turned that introduction into a career of her own, working as a certified mental health therapist.

“She also has two kids, so it’s important to me she has taken that route,” Bernstein said.

Steve and Abby — now Abby Bernstein Henderson — will team up again next January when they become co-chairs of the 2025 Rock ’n’ Roll Classic Party.

“HomeSafe relies on about $2 million of donations every year and this is our biggest fundraiser,” Bernstein said. “This event alone raises about $500,000, which goes a long way.”

Since Bernstein has gotten involved, HomeSafe has grown to four campuses throughout Palm Beach County and gone from two beds to a room to one in the newer campuses.

“It’s better for children with behavioral problems to have their own room,” he said. A campaign launched in 2021 strives to make that a reality on all four campuses.

The renovated campus on Ipswich Street in Boca Raton hopes to open in December. It is named the Bernstein Family Foundation Campus.

“The foundation is our charity and we give to several nonprofits, and HomeSafe has always been on the top of our list,” Bernstein said.

“When they were redoing campuses, I walked through our Boca campus and said we have to redo this one, too, so we made a significant gift toward that campus. But it’s not just us, there are other donors as well.”

Bernstein said the gift was $1 million.

He enjoys golf and tennis and walking on the beach as well as spending time with his grandchildren and his fiancée, Lori Keezer.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I grew up in New York City, and at the age of 14 our family moved to Sarasota, which was quite a culture shock since at that time Sarasota was full of rednecks and retirees. I attended the University of Florida and majored in real estate. I was selling houses to the parents of fraternity brothers. I always liked the freedom of being my own boss and the ability to make money based fully on my own efforts. I was always very entrepreneurial.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What accomplishments are you most proud of? 
A: One of my first jobs out of college was with MCI, the first pure long-distance phone company, and I was assigned to a division that was trying to obtain the very first cellular phone licenses.
As a real estate specialist, it was my job to travel across the country to lease properties and secure zoning for cellular tower sites. Over time, as the cellular industry grew, I saw a great opportunity to capitalize on a niche business, and provide site acquisition, zoning and construction services to the cellular industry.
I started the business with credit card cash advances, and over time became the largest provider of these services to the cellular industry. With the continued growth of cellular providers, I transitioned the company to owning tower sites for ourselves and renting them to all the different carriers.
Today, SBA Communications — which originally stood for Steven Bernstein and Associates — is an S&P 500 public company with a market cap of $20 billion; we own approximately 40,000 towers in more than 13 countries.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: When in college, know what you want to do early and find internships or jobs in your field. You want to set yourself apart from the rest when you graduate, and having experience in your field is the best way to do it. 
If you are entrepreneurial, work for someone in your field of interest, and focus on obtaining all the knowledge, experience and most importantly contacts that you can, so you can prepare for going out on your own.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in coastal Boca Raton? 
A: I started my business in Pittsburgh, but since I was working all over the country, I could headquarter anywhere. Boca seemed to have the best of everything: lifestyle, climate, beaches, etc.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in coastal Boca Raton? 
A: I’m an avid golfer, tennis player and beach walker. Where else can you get all those 365 days a year!

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I’m into historical fiction lately, so I’ve been reading a lot of Ken Follett: The Pillars of the Earth, Fall of Giants, etc. History repeats itself and I’ve always been a history buff. The climate today is such that we ought to learn from our mistakes.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired? 
A: I’m a classic rock listener, which can go anywhere from relaxed to inspiring. Because of my age I’m still stuck in ’70s classic rock. I don’t listen to anything else; I try to but I really don’t. So Eagles, Rolling Stones, Billy Joel. Just using him as an example, he has songs that are mellow and relaxing and also has songs that are upbeat, that tell a story.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions? 
A: When I started my business, I used to have to drive three hours to Harrisburg and back to Pittsburgh once a week to do zoning hearings. Back then, I had a cassette player in my car and had listened to the Anthony Robbins 30-cassette tape series — and that really motivated, inspired and gave me tools for success.

Q: Is there something people don’t know about you but should?
A: I have a new side hustle — I enjoy renovating and building homes. So, Lori and I buy, build, fix, decorate and sell homes.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I recently read the book Shoe Dog by Nike founder Phil Knight, which talks about his early days of starting Nike and all his trials and tribulations. Then I saw the movie Air, which again highlighted the early days of Nike and making their deal with Michael Jordan. Ben Affleck did a great job of playing Phil Knight, so I pick him to be me.

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge discovered to its chagrin that the days of the trustworthy postman are a thing of the past. For the third time in two years, it has been the victim of alleged fraud by postal workers pilfering checks. 

A $40,000 check on July 16 was stolen and washed from a Boynton Beach postal branch, said Town Manager Lynne Ladner. The latest fraud followed a minor incident where two checks were stolen in August 2023 and a fraud of about $100,000 in June 2022.

Ladner said the $100,000 fraud occurred when a postal worker picked up checks inside Town Hall. Ocean Ridge then started hand-delivering checks to Seacrest Boulevard and Boynton Beach Boulevard postal branches, she said.

“We’ve used both of them and it doesn’t seem to matter,” Ladner said.

The latest fraud disrupted town business. “We ended up having to stop payment on the other two checks that we sent out that day because we didn’t know if they all got pulled,” she said. 

After the first two incidents, the town moved to electronic payments in recent months except only for when a printed check is necessary.

The fraud was discussed during the July 25 Town Commission meeting as commissioners followed up on their previous approval of transferring the town’s accounts from City National Bank of Florida to TD Bank.

Ladner, who discussed the fraud after the meeting, said City National took a year to reimburse Ocean Ridge for the 2022 fraud.

“We had, at any given time, between $5 (million) and $8 million in their bank and we can’t even get people to pick up the phone to talk to us,” Ladner said.

When Ocean Ridge installed a new financial management system, City National didn’t update its contacts promptly, Ladner said. “They failed to process our payroll so none of our employees got paid,” she said.

City National and the post office did not immediately reply to email messages seeking comment. 

Criminals see snail mail as a gold mine these days.

Delray Beach police announced on July 16 that they had arrested five people in connection with a ring that would rob postal workers at gunpoint to get the keys that opened cluster mailboxes and blue collection boxes.

Investigators say they identified at least 2,000 victims who were defrauded of at least $800,000.

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge’s proposed $10.4 million budget includes money for a lobbyist and a part-time code enforcement officer.

Town Manager Lynne Ladner told commissioners at their July 25 meeting that a $30,000 appropriation for a lobbyist would be money well spent.

“That is not something we’ve done the last couple of years,” Ladner said. “But we’re continuing to ask for grants from the state and for potential legislative appropriations.”

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said the state Legislature this year granted Ocean Ridge a $250,000 appropriation to find, fix or replace buried water valves. Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, vetoed it.

“It was made very clear to us that without a lobbyist you are not going to get through the governor’s office,” Cassidy said.

A code enforcement officer would be added by expanding the town’s professional services agreement with Hy-Byrd Inc. Inspections, which currently provides services for the building department, Ladner said.

The code enforcement officers would work between 12 and 20 hours per week, relieving police from having to write up residents for dirty roofs or unmowed lawns.

Commissioners worried that the hourly rate agreement could lead to abuse and told Ladner they wanted to cap the contract at $40,000.

The commission will meet on Aug. 5 to hammer out further details of the budget.

Ladner proposes that the tax rate stay the same as last fiscal year at $5.40 per $1,000 of taxable value. Residents can still expect higher bills next year, though, because property values rose 9.6%, excluding new construction, she said.

Homesteaded properties, however, are capped at a 3% increase under Florida law, while business, rental property and second homes are capped at 10%.

That means the owner of a second home or rental property with a $1 million taxable value last year, which also matched the town’s 9.6% growth in value, can expect to pay about $518 more in taxes to Ocean Ridge. However, for most residents, the homesteaded rate for the same $1 million home would be $162 more.

By John Pacenti

Former Delray Beach Fire Chief Keith Tomey is gone, but the drama is not.

In his whistleblower lawsuit against the city filed on June 25 over his dismissal, Tomey includes a 2022 text message exchange between himself and Delray Beach City Attorney Lynn Gelin in which she disparages City Manager Terrence Moore.

Tomey was fired May 1, one day after an investigation found no evidence to support his accusation that Moore inappropriately touched and groped him. He claims in the lawsuit the firing was retaliation for making a formal complaint against Moore.

The text exchange included in the lawsuit allegedly occurred Oct. 18, 2022. Tomey told Gelin that Moore had repeated his request to demote Craig Mahoney or get him to step down. Tomey had recently promoted Mahoney — the president of IAFF Local 1842, the firefighters union — to division chief of logistics without telling Moore first.

In the text exchange, Gelin said if Tomey did what Moore was asking, Mahoney would sue for retaliation. “It’s a stupid argument that reflects poorly on Terrence.”

Tomey had said he felt pressure to demote Mahoney because Moore was his boss.

“And stop referring to him as your boss, Lol,” Gelin said in the same text, court documents show. “He’s your boss in title and nothing else. Every time he opens his mouth he confirms how incompetent he is.”

Screenshots of the text exchange are included as an exhibit in the lawsuit.

When asked if the city, Gelin, or Moore would comment on the lawsuit or the text exchange cited, spokeswoman Gina Carter said as a policy Delray Beach does not comment on pending litigation.

But the city didn’t waste any time seeking a dismissal. Attorney Tonja Haddad Coleman, outside counsel retained by Delray Beach, wrote in a July 17 motion that Tomey’s complaint recites “discursive and conclusory unsubstantiated facts.”

Tomey does not meet the definition of a whistleblower under state law for a multitude of reasons — such as the former fire chief never made an official complaint of harassment until March 2024 while under investigation for his actions, Haddad Coleman wrote.

Tomey was fired for his decision to allow on-duty firefighters to participate in the annual Guns and Hoses softball game in November, compromising the city’s readiness, according to Moore’s termination letter to him. An on-duty firefighter was injured in the game and filed a workers compensation claim.

“I believe residents will find there is ample support for Mr. Tomey’s termination,” said City Commissioner Juli Casale. “It is unfortunate that a random text sent out of frustration is being used to bolster a claim that has already been found to be meritless by an outside investigator.”

Tomey was hired in 2016 and named chief in April 2020. Moore became city manager in August 2021 and Gelin has been the city’s top attorney since 2018.

The city employed an outside law firm to investigate Tomey’s sexual harassment complaint, finding there was no evidence to support the claim.

Tomey’s attorney, Isidro M. Garcia, said Gelin’s texts “speak for themselves.”

“There is some disconnect there between the City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney’s Office, especially when it comes to the Mahoney thing,” Garcia said.

There have been other incidents as well.  

Tomey received a traffic ticket on June 17, 2023, from the Florida Highway Patrol on Florida’s Turnpike for unknowingly driving on a suspended license, according to court records. At the time, Tomey often drove city-owned vehicles.

The lawsuit also revisits Tomey’s five-day suspension for not promptly reporting an Oct. 26, 2022, fender-bender on Interstate 95. While on paid leave as the city investigated the incident, Tomey suffered a stress-induced atrial fibrillation which resulted in a hospital stay, according to the lawsuit.

Tomey was denied workers compensation and sued the city and won, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims the firing violated the state’s Whistleblower Act. Tomey reported Moore made sexual advances toward him on Aug. 3, 2022, as the two drove in Moore’s car to and from the Arts Garage. Tomey said Moore “rubbed up his thigh and just briefly made contact with his groin area.”

Tomey claimed in the lawsuit that Gelin was dismissive of his report of sexual harassment, which he first mentioned to her in August 2022. “As long as he doesn’t rub anyone’s knees I’m cool,” she allegedly said about Moore in a text from that time that is included as an exhibit.

The new boat will address what Chief Hugh Bruder calls a ‘staggering’ number of water rescue calls. Photo provided

By Jane Musgrave

When you think about firefighters and water, forget hoses. Instead, think boats.

Boynton Beach Fire Rescue is expanding its land-based operations and moving to the water with the purchase of a $400,000, 28-foot fire boat and the construction of a $250,000 dock it will share with the city’s Police Department.

The city also plans to spend $1.8 million to renovate a 1950s-era building in Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park to create a 24-hour-a-day marine headquarters where three firefighters will be stationed, Fire Chief Hugh Bruder said.

Although several fire rescue agencies, including Palm Beach County, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, have boats, Bruder said the idea of a marine unit was initially viewed with suspicion.

“When I started the bandwagon four years ago everyone looked at me like I was from another planet,” he told the City Commission in July as he explained why he will need $37.3 million to run the department in the year beginning Oct. 1. That is a 16.6% jump from this year.

Calls for service justify the expense of the marine unit, Bruder said.

“The number of water rescue calls are staggering,” he said.

The agency receives an average of one water rescue-related call a day — up 50% from four years ago.

Bruder recalled the day in June when ocean rescue crews and firefighters were summoned to help other agencies find an 8-year-old boy who fell off the south jetty at the Boynton Inlet while fishing with his father.

Within an hour, rescuers realized that there was little chance of finding the West Palm Beach boy alive. Even though firefighters aren’t typically involved in recovery operations, they stayed until the body of Saul Cerrato-Vasquez was found, Bruder said.

“We stayed to give the family closure and we stayed because it was the right thing to do,” he said.

To offset the increased costs of running the department, Bruder said he is beginning to renegotiate contracts with municipalities that receive fire service from Boynton Beach. Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes are among them.

Costs to municipalities will increase, Bruder said. For instance, under a proposed 10-year contract with the Village of Golf, the village would pay 10% more the first year, putting an extra $30,000 in Boynton Beach’s coffers, then have annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index, Bruder said.

Ocean Ridge Town Manager Lynne Ladner said the town will pay nearly $1.6 million next year to Boynton Beach for fire protection. While the contract doesn’t expire until Oct. 1, 2028, it is up for a 4-year review this month.

She said she hadn’t been contacted by Boynton Beach officials about renegotiating the contract.

Under the existing agreement, the cost to Ocean Ridge increases about 4% each year, she said.

Bruder said he is also working to improve the department’s rating from the Insurance Services Office. An upgrade would decrease insurance rates for homeowners, including those who live in municipalities that contract with Boynton Beach for service.

The department wasn’t able to get a Class 1 rating in 2017, largely because of water pressure problems, Bruder said. He voiced confidence the agency would get the top rating when it is reinspected in 2025.

The fire boat is to arrive in August 2025. What is being called the “public safety dock” is to be completed in March. A grant is covering half of the construction costs with the city kicking in the rest.

Money for the renovation of the city building the U.S. Coast Guard was using in Harvey Oyer Park is to be generated by increasing the annual fire assessment from $120 to $145.

The flat fee, separate from property taxes, is paid only by Boynton Beach residents and business owners.

The increased assessment would generate $1.46 million annually. That money would be used to repay a $13.1 million, 15-year bond. The loan would also pay for other projects, including the estimated $10 million replacement of a 40-year-old fire station on Congress Avenue and Miner Road.

City commissioners tentatively approved the fee hike. But, Commissioner Angela Cruz said she may ask that it be trimmed to $140 during budget hearings in September.

Commissioner Thomas Turkin said he wants it to be reduced once the loan has been repaid.

Overall, Cruz said, the proposed tax rate of $7.80 for each $1,000 of taxable value, down from a rate of $7.85 per $1,000 this year, represents the biggest tax rate cut the city has had in years. However, because property values in the city increased 8.7% overall, the city will rake in nearly $4 million more in property taxes.

As proposed, the city will spend $130 million next year, a 9.4% increase over this year.

The tax rate, if approved, would find the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 after exemptions paying $3,120 for city services next year, not including the fire assessment.

Corrections: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect date for when the city's new fire boat will arrive. It is expected to arrive in August 2025. It also misstated when the department was last ISO inspected -- it was in 2017 -- and the terms of the contract with the Village of Golf (after a 10% increase the first year, future year cost increases are connected to the Consumer Price Index).

The Briny Breezes Town Council tentatively set the property tax rate for the coming fiscal year at $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value, the same rate as the current year and the one Town Manager Bill Thrasher recommended.

At the council’s July 25 meeting, Thrasher noted that the town’s tax base had risen 11.3%, to $95.2 million, but he advised the aldermen not to lower the tax rate.

Briny Breezes is in the process of borrowing millions of dollars to fix its sea walls and redo its drainage system as a defense against rising sea levels.

“In my opinion we’re going to need all the revenue that we can garnish going forward from this point,” Thrasher said.

The town’s first public hearing on its budget and tax rate will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 12 with a final public hearing at the same time Sept. 26. The new budget takes effect Oct. 1.

— Steve Plunkett

Should bonfires be allowed on the beach?

The Briny Breezes Town Council will wrestle with the issue once again, this time in a workshop set for 4 p.m. Aug. 15.

Alderman Bill Birch and Alderwoman Kathy Gross had missed the council’s May 23 discussion, so the topic was postponed so they could participate.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on this already, so if we do a workshop, can we pretty much finalize it at that workshop?” Birch asked during the council’s July 25 meeting.

The answer was no, that the council cannot vote on legislation in a workshop, so a vote on proposed changes to the town’s code on fires and lighting restrictions near the beach will wait even longer for a regular council meeting.

Town Attorney Keith Davis originally proposed updating the ordinance partly to correct the start of sea turtle nesting season in March. The ordinance says nesting starts in April.

But aldermen do not yet agree on whether bonfires should be allowed outside of nesting season and if so, exactly how to regulate them. Police Chief Scott McClure has said the existing contract for police services would have to be changed if Briny Breezes wants his Ocean Ridge officers to enforce fire regulations as well.

Separately, the council scheduled a single regular meeting for 4 p.m. Dec. 12 in place of its Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 meetings to avoid conflicts with the holidays.

— Steve Plunkett

By Mary Thurwachter

Lantana residents will see something new this month when they receive notice of their proposed taxes from the county property appraiser — a stormwater utility fee for drainage projects. That will amount to a $72 annual assessment for the typical single-family home.

The Town Council adopted that preliminary rate — which equates to $6 a month for the average homeowner — during its July 8 meeting. Workshops to discuss the topic were held on June 10 and July 22. The second workshop was open for public comment, but only six residents attended, and no one said a peep.

Town Manager Brian Raducci says the cost of stormwater management has continued to grow and he anticipates it will be a larger part of operations in the future.

“Just to be clear, this is because things are changing,” Vice Mayor Pro Tem Kem Mason said. “The weather is changing. We have more rain. We’re having to get more pumps out there — trucks to pump water out to eliminate the flooding. We can’t stand behind and be reactive. We have to be proactive.”

Lantana’s annual stormwater operations and maintenance costs are $320,030, according to a study done by the engineering firm Chen Moore and Associates. 

That study showed that the average monthly rate of utility fees for 130 Florida municipalities is $9.

The fee is assessed based on the impact of stormwater generated from property within the town. The impact is calculated based on the amount of impervious area (land area covered or paved), and this is shown as an Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU.

In Palm Beach County, monthly stormwater rates range from $4 in Palm Springs to $19 in Wellington, with an average among eight municipalities of $8.91 (Palm Springs, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Wellington).

The fee structure is tiered.

The average single-family home, which is less than a quarter of an acre, will be paying $6 a month or $72 a year, according to Brent Whitfield, a Chen Moore project manager.

For homes greater than a quarter of an acre, the fee is $12 a month or $144 a year.

The final rate can be less, but not more, than the rate listed in the mailed notices, called Truth in Millage or TRIM. The TRIM notice also includes all proposed property tax rates affecting a property.

A $6 fee would collect $546,280 a year. If the rate were reduced to $5.75, the amount the fee raises would be $523,519.

The extra money collected by the tax — above the expected $320,030 in expenses — will be set aside for costly capital stormwater projects which will be needed in the future.

“If you’re not putting away at least $200,000 a year, you’re not really preparing yourself for what’s coming,” Whitfield said.

First and second readings of the ordinance adopting the new tax are set for Aug. 12 and Sept. 9.

Carnegie medal winner Jakob Thompson. Mary Thurwachter/The Coastal Star

Lifesaver wins national hero award — During the July 8 Lantana Town Council meeting, Vice Mayor Mark Zeitler presented 17-year-old Jakob Thompson with a Carnegie Hero Award for saving a 35-year-old woman from drowning at the Boynton Inlet on Nov. 30.

As he and his girlfriend were driving along State Road A1A, Thompson observed a group of people trying to help the woman as she struggled to swim about 60 feet from the sea wall as a strong, outgoing current was carrying her toward the inlet’s opening to the Atlantic Ocean. He drove on a bridge crossing the inlet to the nearby parking lot.

As Thompson saw the woman floating toward the middle of the inlet, he pulled off his shirt, took a running jump from the sea wall and landed feet-first in the water. Thompson swam about 90 feet to the woman and grasped her around the chest. She was breathing heavily and nearly exhausted, he said.

He towed the woman back to the sea wall and held her to the wall until two men pulled her to safety atop the wall.

After first-responders assessed the woman, they took her to a hospital.

A Lantana resident with plans to become an EMT, Thompson said he doesn’t have any formal lifesaving training but spends a lot of time boating and feels very comfortable in the water.

The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the country and Canada to people who risk death or serious injury to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

Sunsetting surtax — Town Manager Brian Raducci told the Town Council that Palm Beach County’s infrastructure surtax, or penny sales tax, is due to sunset Dec. 31, 2025, when it is expected to have raised the maximum $2.7 billion authorized by county voters. Lantana joined other communities in asking for an extension — municipalities have been receiving 20% of the revenue — but Raducci said there didn’t appear to be enough support for that effort on the county level.

“Obviously, it’s had a large impact on communities like ours,” Raducci said. “We stand to lose about $1 million” annually.

Raducci said the county is looking instead into proposing a transportation surtax. Either surtax would have to be approved by voters.

Lantana has used surtax money for the ADA ramp at the beach, wooden decking and railings at the beach park, replacing Town Hall windows, renovating the Town Council chambers, paving projects, and constructing classrooms and an emergency operations center at the Police Department.

— Mary Thurwachter

By Mary Thurwachter

Lantana’s to-do list for the coming year includes pursuing a land swap of town-owned waterfront property on North Lake Drive for the old bowling alley land owned by Michael and Tony Mauro at 200 N. Third St.

The recently renovated library at 205 W. Ocean Ave. is quickly outgrowing its space and could use more room for community events, according to Town Manager Brian Raducci.

The town is interested in constructing a recreation center on the Mauro property, which is a short walk from the library.

A swap may require a voter referendum and a review of language in the Town Charter, Raducci said at a budget workshop in July.

The town paid $965,000, a bargain price, for the lots at 206, 210 and 302 N. Lake Drive in 2012. At the time, the mayor, Dave Stewart, said buying the land was an opportunity similar to the $4,000 Lions Club 1940s land purchase, which eventually gave Lantana a beach and preserved waterfront property for future generations.

Also on the to-do list for the year ahead, as outlined in the budget:

Redeveloping downtown’s Ocean Avenue properties. Twelve decrepit cottages on the north side of the avenue between Oak Street and Lake Drive were demolished this summer.

The goal is to replace them with a mixed-use planned development with residential and commercial space.

In their pursuit of a developer, town officials have said they will be flexible on building heights — possibly allowing as much as five stories. Mayor Karen Lythgoe says the town is “not expressly wanting” five-story buildings “but doesn’t want to turn away plans before the council can evaluate them.”

Beefing up the beach. Town leaders are giving thought to removing the old pavilion and exploring cost sharing opportunities to build new facilities on the beach without endangering the sea turtles. Raducci says the town may consider moving the Dune Deck Café to the former pavilion site and rebuilding the current restaurant into a second restaurant. Building a pier is a consideration for the future.

Partnering with a third party to rent kayaks and paddleboards and snorkel equipment at Lyman Kayak Park. Adding a small sundry shop and guided tours are also being considered.

Adding dock lifts at Sportsman’s Park. Vice Mayor Pro Tem Kem Mason proposed this idea at a visioning session in April. The 10 to 20 dock lifts could be leased out and create revenue for the town. Raducci says the town would ensure that costs do not exceed benefits, such as costs of permitting, construction, maintenance and dockmaster.

This project, Raducci says, would need to be a long-term plan in light of the Ocean Avenue Vulnerability Analysis, which considers raising the sea walls.

Improving the North Third Street parking lot in accordance with the town’s master plan. This would involve replacing the fence with a masonry wall and a new landscape plan.

All of these projects are highlighted in the FY 2025 budget. Public hearings on the budget are set for Sept. 9 and 18.

A Gulf Stream estate (center), which sits on more than 2 acres and has 200 feet of beachfront, sold for a town-record $39 million in June. Photo provided by Living Proof Photography

By Christine Davis

In a record-breaking $39 million deal for Gulf Stream, Debra A. Levitetz, the former wife of Purity Wholesale Grocers founder and chairman Jeffrey A. Levitetz, sold her eight-bedroom, 12,717-total-square-foot oceanfront estate at 3223 N. Ocean Blvd. in June.

The buyer, RSPS 3223 North Ocean LLC, is a Delaware-registered company. Candace Friis and Phil Friis, Corcoran Group agents, brokered the deal. Debra and Jeffrey Levitetz bought the home together for $12.5 million in 2001, and the home was deeded directly to her name two years later.

Built in 1995, the home is on a 2.15-acre lot with 200 feet directly on the ocean.

The mother-son Friis team also handled the previous record-setting deal for Gulf Stream: the $33 million sale of 3545 N. Ocean Blvd. in 2022. 

***

The State University System board of governors has adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of tax-exempt debt up to $117.75 million by the Florida Atlantic University Finance Corp. to finance the design, construction and equipment of a new seven-story, 670-bed, 204,000-square-foot student housing facility on the university’s main campus.

The unit mix will be single-occupancy three- and four-bedroom semi-suite units with shared bathrooms and a kitchenette.

The university is working with Coral Gables-based HKS Architects and has yet to select a general contractor.

It estimated the project would break ground in December and be open in time for the fall 2026 semester. The project’s $160,500 per-bed cost would be the highest for student housing at a state university, according to Florida board of governors staff. The university attributed that to inflation and current market conditions in Boca Raton.

Florida Atlantic University had 5,185 on-campus residents in 2024 out of more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It has six campuses.

A feasibility and demand study conducted by Brailsford & Dunlavey estimated total demand through fall 2026 at 1,066 beds, exceeding the proposed 670 beds, and recommended the university meet such demand via a phasing-in of several housing projects in the coming years. 

***

Brandon Waller was hired by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County as the federation’s new community security director.

Waller is assuming this role from Alan Poland, who was elevated to the Jewish Federation of North America Secure Community Network’s Florida regional director.

Waller previously served as a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2003 to 2024. He served as a SWAT operator for more than 12 years while assigned to New York.  

The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County is part of a network of Jewish federations and communities that have partnered with Secure Community Network to launch or build upon existing community-wide security programs.

***

The 2024 Palm Beach Solar Co-op initiative, organized by the national nonprofit Solar United Neighbors in partnership with local organizations, including the city of Boca Raton, aims to bring accessible clean energy and storm resilience to the Palm Beach County community.

This nonprofit has completed 85 solar co-ops across Florida since 2016, including four previous ones in Palm Beach County — in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 — in which 400 Palm Beach County households enrolled. Homeowners, nonprofits and small businesses in the county can still join for free until Sept. 6. To sign up, go to solarunitedneighbors.org/palmbeach.

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

By John Pacenti

Boynton Beach Mayor Ty Penserga said July 25 that the FBI is investigating a death threat made against him.

City Commissioner Tom Turken said he has also been the target of threats.

The threats come after a contentious July 2 commission meeting where Penserga cut off public comments from two women who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, leading Turkin to criticize the mayor for not letting them speak. Commissioners abruptly adjourned the meeting as one of the speakers who refused to stop speaking was being led out of the chamber by police on orders from the mayor.

Penserga said he was enforcing a policy that public comments had to pertain to items that are within the purview of the City Commission. 

Turkin shouted at Penserga that he felt citizens had a First Amendment right to address the commission as they saw fit. When some in the gallery applauded, Turkin said, “Don’t clap because I don’t agree with a lot that has been said.”

One of the women – Candace Rojas, a former candidate for Palm Beach City Council and the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District – is a well-known and vocal election denier who has appeared before many area commissions. She told the commission she was speaking to “restore the republic.”

Boynton Beach police escort Candace Rojas out of the City Commission chambers after Mayor Ty Penserga cut her off for talking about non-city related items during the public comments portion of the commission's July 2 meeting. City of Boynton Beach meeting video

“As a sovereign American I am putting you on notice,” said Rojas, before being cut off by Penserga and escorted out by police when she refused to leave the lectern.

While officials would not comment on the specific threats, the video of the July 2 meeting was removed from the city’s YouTube and website pages after threats were made to city commissioners, Boynton Beach spokeswoman Chelsea Sanabia said July 17. The threats were under police investigation, she said.

Police spokeswoman Holly Piccano told a Coastal Star reporter to make a public records request when asked if the threats stemmed from the July 2 meeting.

The first public mention of a death threat occurred when a speaker mentioned it during public comments at the July 16 commission meeting. Penserga and Turkin were absent from that meeting.

Penserga, returning a phone call July 26, said he was reluctant to speak further about the death threat without consulting the FBI. He did elaborate that the death threat was made in an anonymous voicemail.

Turkin, who said he also received threats, responded July 24 to a text message seeking comment:

“Due to the plethora of investigations that are ongoing internally and with other three-letter agencies pertaining to multiple threats/conspiring actions against myself and other members of the commission, I will refrain.”

Next up for the commission is a special workshop on ethics slated for July 30. Also to be discussed are new rules for public comment at commission meetings, rules that caught commissioners by surprise when staff tried to put them in place at the July 16 meeting.

The three commissioners in attendance at that meeting balked at the changes and chose to follow the commission’s past practices until they had an opportunity to discuss any changes in how they do business. The new rules would have pushed public comments from near the beginning of commission meetings to near the end. They also would require each resident who wanted to speak to fill out a comment card and file it with the city clerk.

“I was disappointed they were added to the agenda without having input from my colleagues,” said Vice Mayor Aimee Kelley at the meeting.

“I was blindsided by this and I don’t like it,” said Commissioner Woodrow L. Hay.

By John Pacenti

Former Delray Beach Fire Chief Keith Tomey is gone but the drama is not.

In his whistleblower lawsuit against the city filed on June 25 over his dismissal, Tomey includes a 2022 text message exchange between himself and Delray Beach City Attorney Lynn Gelin in which she disparages City Manager Terrence Moore.

Tomey was fired May 1, one day after an investigation found no evidence to support his accusation that Moore inappropriately touched and groped him. He claims in the lawsuit the firing was retaliation for making a formal complaint against Moore.

The text exchange included in the lawsuit allegedly occurred Oct. 18, 2022. Tomey told Gelin that Moore had repeated his request to demote Craig Mahoney or get him to step down. Tomey had recently promoted Mahoney – the president of IAFF Local 1842, the firefighter’s union – to division chief of logistics without telling Moore first.

In the text exchange, Gelin said if Tomey did what Moore was asking, Mahoney would sue for retaliation. “It’s a stupid argument that reflects poorly on Terrence."

Tomey had said he felt pressure to demote Mahoney because Moore was his boss.

“And stop referring to him as your boss, Lol,” Gelin said in the same text, court documents show. “He’s your boss in title and nothing else. Every time he opens his mouth he confirms how incompetent he is.”

Screenshots of the text exchange are included as an exhibit in the lawsuit.

When asked if the city, Gelin, or Moore would comment on the lawsuit or the text exchange cited, spokesperson Gina Carter said as a policy Delray Beach does not comment on pending litigation.

Tomey was fired for his decision to allow on-duty firefighters to participate in the annual Guns and Hoses softball game in November, compromising the city’s readiness, according to Moore's termination letter to him. An on-duty firefighter was injured in the game and filed a workers compensation claim.

“I believe residents will find there is ample support for Mr. Tomey’s termination,” said City Commissioner Juli Casale. “It is unfortunate that a random text sent out of frustration is being used to bolster a claim that has already been found to be meritless by an outside investigator.”

Tomey was hired in 2016 and named chief in April 2020. Moore became city manager in August 2021 and Gelin has been the city’s top attorney since 2018.

The city employed an outside law firm to investigate Tomey’s sexual harassment complaint, finding there was no evidence to support the claim.

Tomey’s attorney, Isidro M. Garcia, said Gelin’s texts “speak for themselves.”

“There is some disconnect there between the City Manager’s Office and the City’s Attorney's Office, especially when it comes to the Mahoney thing,” Garcia said.

There have been other incidents as well.  

Tomey received a traffic ticket on June 17, 2023 from the Florida Highway Patrol on the Florida Turnpike for unknowingly driving on a suspended license, according to court records. At the time, Tomey often drove city-owned vehicles.

The lawsuit also revisits Tomey’s five-day suspension for not promptly reporting an Oct. 26, 2022 fender-bender on Interstate 95. While on paid leave as the city investigated the incident, Tomey suffered a stress-induced atrial fibrillation which resulted in a hospital stay, according to the lawsuit.

Tomey was denied workers’ compensation and sued the city and won, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims the firing violated the state’s Whistleblower Act. Tomey reported Moore made sexual advances towards him on Aug. 3, 2022, as the two drove in Moore’s car to and from the Arts Garage. Tomey said Moore “rubbed up his thigh and just briefly made contact with his groin area.”

Tomey claimed in the lawsuit that Gelin was dismissive of his report of sexual harassment, which he first mentioned to her in August 2022. “As long as he doesn't rub anyone's knees I’m cool,” she allegedly said in a text from that time that is included as an exhibit.

After the city received a letter on the incident from Garcia in March, the commission asked for an investigation.